Panel seal and lock



27, 1965 R. s. GREGOIRE 3,

PANEL SEAL AND LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1963 IN VEN TOR. KESTA S. GKEGO lKE W Z M A TTJEA/E Y.

1966 R. s. GREGOIRE PANEL SEAL AND LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 18, 1963 E 7, mm M mm E V.E 2 mK Zm United States Patent 3,293,818 PANEL SEAL AND LOCK Resta S. Gregoire, Dillsburg, Pa., assignor to Gregoire Engineering and Development Company, a corporation of Maryland Filed Apr. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 273,949 4 Claims. (Cl. 52468) This invention relates to interior panel seal and lock strips for locking and sealing the adjacent edges on the interior of adjoining panels of a panel building structure joint.

The object of this invention is to provide a cover strip having self locking projections on the back of it, with a pair of ears of spring sheet material normally bent out of axial alignment on each projection, so that the ears have to be sprung into substantial alignment while passing the projections into the joint between the adjacent panel edges during installation of the lock strip, and will spring out of alignment under the edges of the interior panels as the back strip is pressed into place to cover the joint and to lock the adjacent interior panels together in flush alignment with said lock strip.

A further object is to sweep back the leading edges of the projection ears to facilitate springing them into axial alignment with the joint during installation of the cover strip.

A further object is to provide a sealing strip under said cover strip to seal the joint.

A further object is to make the sealing strip wide enough to straddle the joint between the adjacent panels, and provide intermittent cut-outs along its axis for passing the projections and ears therethrough.

Other and more specific objects will become apparent in the following detailed description of some forms of this invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cover strip with self locking projections at the back of it,

FIG. 2 is a side view of a portion of this cover strip,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of this portion partly broken away to show the shape of the projections at the back of the strip,

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken through .a wall panel joint with the cover strip shown diagrammatically on the interior of the wall mounted over the joint,

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are end views of cover strips adapted for a flat joint, an inner corner joint, and an outer corner joint,

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of an end of a sealing strip adapted for use under the cover strip,

FIG. 9 is an end view of this sealing strip,

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the sealing strip, wall joint and the cover strip in cross-section showing how the strips are applied to the interior wall panel joint,

FIGS. 11, 12 and 13 are end views of the cover and sealing strip assemblies for a fiat wall joint, an inner corner joint and an outer corner joint respectively.

The present invention is shown applied to a specific form of panel wall, the panels 10 of which have a three layer construction comprising the outside panel sheet 12 having interlocking edges 14 and 16 at opposite sides of each panel sheet, an intermediate layer 18 of comparatively soft insulator material such as a foam plastic, and an inside finish panel sheet 20 formed and assembled as shown to provide a closely fitting joint. The intermediate layers 18 have interfitting beveled edges parting on the diagonally extending line '19 at the joint. It is applicable, however, to other types of panel assemblies which have an interior panel sheet 20 with space back of it to receive the projections 22 of the cover strip 24 when it is applied over ice an interior joint between the adjacent edges of the joined wall panels, such as 1010.

As is clearly shown the projections 22 may have arrowhead shapes to facilitate their being driven into or through any soft material in the wall panel assembly, back of the inside paneled sheet 20 at the joint. The cover strip is formed of a thin but stiff spring sheet material and the projections are stamped or cut out as shown with ears 26 extending from the sides of the projection (22. These ears are normally bent out of axial alignment with the projections in opposite directions from the opposite sides of each projector, and have swept-back leading edges 28, so that during installation of the cover strip the passing of these projections and ears through the joint between the adjacent edges of the inside panel sheets may be facilitated by causing the ears to spring into substantial axial alignment with the projections as they are pushed through the joint, and so that the cars will spring out into normal out of axial alignment positions behind the inside panel sheets as soon as they clear the corresponding adjacent edges of the panel sheets 20, and the edges of the panel sheets are thus locked flush against the back of the cover strip. The cover strips are thus used not only to cover unsightly seams at the joints between panels on the interior wall, but to permanently lock the edges in flush relation at the joint. Toremove a cover strip, it is necessary to pry up the edge of the cover strip and cut the base of the projections 22 or forcibly pulling the projections out and sustaining some damages to the edges of the panels or to the ears 26 of the projections or to both, depending on the relative strengths of the materials used.

If it is desirable to further seal the joint completely against any air or moisture leakage, a sealing strip may be used under the cover strip.

One form of this sealing strip is shown having hollow flexible side portions 30 connected by a mid portion for stradding over the joint as shown in FIG. 10 before affixing the cover strip 24. The mid portion may be provided with slits or opening 32 spaced at substantially the same intervals as the projections on the cover strips 24, so as to pass the projections and cars 26 through the sealing strip during installation. The sealing strips may be made in various other forms and may be of resilient as well as flexible material for better sealing if desired.

Angle strips with the same type of projections 22 and ears 26 may be used for covering corner joints. Angle strips 34 for inside corners are shown in FIGS. 6 and 12, and angle strips 36 for outside corners are shown in FIGS. 7 and 13; FIGS. 6 and 7 showing the angle strips 34 and 36 used without additional sealing means, and FIGS. 12 and 13 showing the angle strips 34 and 36 used with a sealing strip 30-32.

Many obvious modifications in form and materials may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cover strip disposed in a panel wall joint having abutting panel edges of hard sheet material, said cover strip comprising a strip of spring sheet material having at least one of its sides folded back behind the strip and having a series of axially spaced projecting pointed portions extending from the edge of this folded side rearwardly into the wall joint between the abutting panel edges,

said pointed portions having angularly bent triangular ear portions extending from their side edges,

said locking ears extending from the opposite side edges of said pointed projecting portions substantially out of axial alignment with said portions to opposite sides thereof, so as to spring behind both of said abutting panel edges of the joint after being passed through the joint and to lock the cover strip over said joint,

said ears having swept-back leading edges to facilitate springing them into substantial axial alignment while passing them through said joint during installation of said strip.

2. A cover strip as defined in claim 1, and a sealing strip of resilient material mounted under said cover strip to provide better sealing of said joint against air leakage.

3. A cover strip and a sealing strip as defined in claim 2, said sealing strip comprising flexible hollow side portions joined by a mid portion straddling said Wall joint.

4. A cover strip and sealing strip as defined in claim 2, and sealing strip comprising a strip of resilient material having axial aligned end spaced slits or openings for passing said projecting portions and ears.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1919 Shaw 52470 10/1932 Dennis 99361 4/1940 Kelsen 52718 6/1942 Eady 52-718 12/1942 Wiley 52-466 2/1952 Poupitch 52718 X 11/1953 Beck 52716 11/1960 Meyers 52--718 5/1962 Kern 52-718 7/1962 Kramer 2473 FOREIGN PATENTS 1956 Belgium.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

J. E. MURTAGH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A COVER STRIP DISPOSED IN A PANEL WALL JOINT HAVING ABUTTING PANEL EDGES OF HARD SHEET MATERIAL, SAID COVER STRIP COMPRISING A STRIP OF SPRING SHEET MATERIAL HAVING AT LEAST ONE OF ITS SIDES FOLDED BACK BEHIND THE STRIP AND HAVING A SERIES OF AXIALLY SPACED PROJECTING POINTED PORTIONS EXTENDING FROM THE EDGE OF THIS FOLDED SIDE REARWARDLY INTO THE WALL JOINT BETWEEN THE ABUTTING PANEL EDGES, SAID POINTED PORTIONS HAVING ANGULARLY BENT TRIANGULAR EAR PORTIONS EXTENDING FROM THEIR SIDE EDGES, SAID LOCKING EARS EXTENDING FROM THEIR SIDE EDGES, EDGES OF SAID POINTED PROJECTING PORTIONS SUBSTANTIALLY OUT OF AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID PORTIONS TO OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, SO AS TO SPRING BEHIND BOTH OF SAID ABUTTING PANEL EDGES OF THE JOINT AFTER BEING PASSED THROUGH THE JOINT AND TO LOCK THE COVER STRIP OVER SAID JOINT, SAID EARS HAVING SWEPT-BACK LEADING EDGES TO FACILITATE SPRINGING THEM INTO SUBSTANTIAL AXIAL ALIGNMENT WHILE PASSING THEM THROUGH SAID JOINT DURING INSTALLATION OF SAID STRIP. 